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Windows 7: How do I transfer Windows 7 hard drive to a windows xp computer

Hello internet so i have a gateway desktop running a Windows Xp service pack 3 that is still running strong and fast i did some updates to the hardware and I have a windows 7 hard drive from a laptop that broke so i want this computer to run the win7 the hard drive is compatable my Toshiba satellite running windows vista 32 bit but it wont run om my gateway note it does show the windows 7 start logo and does bot the windows 7 fix up thing that brings up command prompt system restore thank for your help I pretty sure it has to do with drivers but how do i do that

If the machine has been running XP the BIOS SATA setting will likely be set to Compatibility mode since from what I remember, XP does not have native SATA drivers... for a SATA HD running W7 the BIOS SATA setting should be switched to AHCI. Someone pls correct me if I'm wrong.

But that's only hurdle one. When you installed W7 on the latop, Windows installed all the device drivers relevant to the hardware it was running on... namely the laptop... now you are putting it in a completely different machine and it needs to install the drivers for THAT hardware.

What you are doing is migrating your system to new hardware... and both Paragon and Macrium Reflect handle this, though I have only used Paragon for migration myself. They have a tool called the Boot Media Builder, and another called Recovery Media Builder (the latter is newer but both will accomplish the task). These create a bootable USB stick (or CD) with WinPE (Windows portable environment) on it... so it boots into a Windows GUI with Paragon tools available, and allows you to choose the "P2P" (platform to platform") option, which looks at the OS installed on the internal drive, and injects the proper drivers to make it bootable. It takes 2 seconds.

But making the bootable media takes a little longer as it has to download the WAIK (Windows Assessment Installation Kit) file which is 1.3GB, and install that before the boot media can be created. So this has to be done on a working machine. Also, the BMB and RMB tools are only available if you have an acct with Paragon, unless copies are floating around. You might be able to build a Linux version and skip the WinPE download and hassle, in which case you have to use Recovery Media Builder (RMB) as Boot Media Builder (BMB) only creates a WinPE disc, IIRC, while RMB has either option.

Macrium Reflect also performs system migration from their bootable media, but only their paid version (just like Paragon) will create the tool necessary.

Wandering One is right... when you migrate a system to new hardware it breaks the registration/activation. So have to install the key again and the SLIC in the BIOS has to match the OS, or you'll need to flash the BIOS with a proper SLIC. Much info on these aspects in the my digital life forums. (Windows 8 uses a different scheme, but for W7 the BIOS SLIC info applies.)

Yes its a sata 2.5 hard drive(my laptop hard drive) but it does have the same plugs as my desktop drive sorry for the bad explanation

Physically the HD will fit the desktop, but the Windows 7 license is tied to the laptop since probably it came on the laptop (OEM license). In addition the drivers would not be the same for the two computers. You would need to buy a new Windows 7 disk (license comes with it) and do a Clean Install of Windows to the desktop.

Sorry for the long response. Remm sorry if I'm wrong but right now I'm understanding you think my Sata 2.5 HD does not physically connect with my desktop but it does since my XP desktop was made around 2005 and the sticker that says windows XP but it also says on the bottom Windows Vista Upgradable and I'm pretty sure it was made for windows vista hardware but since windows vista was delayed I"m guessing they just put XP on it. One thing I did do is connect the hd to my computer since the original hard drive of the desktop came with the sata plugs the computer did boot up the system saying starting windows in windows 7 style but would then say error start windows normally or start windows fix something(i don't remember the name). Another thing that could be useful to tell you is that my computer has the capacity to run 10 hard drives and I have a sata to usb cable. Also i heard about some guy who had a computer running windows 7 but had an xp hd running al the drivers it was weird. Finally do any of you know where I can get a windows 7 legal copy for cheap (in case or most likely this doesn't work thank you

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